


Peppermint Sweethearts

by PeppyBismilk



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Retail, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Pining Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Significant Hand Brushes, Valentine's Day, music metaphors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22737418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeppyBismilk/pseuds/PeppyBismilk
Summary: Riku prefers working in the stockroom at The Body Connection, but he makes an exception to help a charming customer out of a tight spot. Now, Riku's got a hopeless crush and one question: If Sora already found the perfect gift for his special someone, why does he keep coming back to the store?
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 135





	Peppermint Sweethearts

Riku didn’t mind working stock.

Sure, some people gave him a hard time about being the only guy who worked at The Body Connection, but he didn’t care what they thought. He liked his job, for the most part. A case of lotion weighed close to 15 pounds and Riku could carry three in one hand. It was like getting paid to work out.

Which was why he always worked in the stockroom and not the register.

“May I have your phone number?” he asked, trying to pass his gritted teeth off as a smile.

“Why?” 

_Because your personal information is much more valuable to the company than this sale_ , Riku thought. As much as customers hated for practice, he could guarantee that he hated it a thousand times more. “Coupons?” he offered weakly. 

“It’s none of your business.” And with that, the skeptical customer snatched their receipt straight from the printer and left in a huff. 

Riku hated working the floor, but in the run up to Valentine’s Day, he did what he had to do. Once the line died down, he made for the stockroom, but it was too late. 

“’Scuse me!” 

Somehow, Riku knew the guy was calling him. His shoulders sagged, but he forced a smile and turned around.

The guy held a bottle of heavily perfumed massage oil in his hand and Riku’s smile bordered on a wince. 

“Is this stuff edible?” the customer asked.

Riku couldn’t stop his horror from creeping into his face. That stuff was so potent he could smell it through the glass. He’d dropped a bottle during a floor set six months ago, and that spot on the floor  _ still _ reeked of musk and currants. In a store with a thousand different fragrances, that was saying something. 

“No.”

The guy frowned. “Well, do you think it would hold up on a hot tub?”

“Uh…” Riku didn’t want to know what this guy’s plan for the oil was, but he was supposed to make sales, so he said, “I guess?”

That made the customer smile. “So that means it’s safe for, you know, internal use?”

The wrap Riku had for lunch threatened to come up. It was none of his business, but he pointed at the label. “External use only.”  _For goodness’ sake,_ he added mentally. 

Seconds stretched by as the customer stared at the bottle. The stockroom called to Riku like a siren and he took a step backward.

Finally, the customer shrugged. “I’ll take my chances.” 

He headed for the line and Riku cringed inwardly—if something happened, could this guy sue him personally? Or just the company?

But Riku had a guardian angel today, and her name was Naminé. 

“I can ring you up,” she said to the customer. “You go on back, Riku.” 

Once he was blissfully out of earshot in the safety of his stockroom, Riku spoke softly into his headset. “Thanks, I owe you lunch all week.”

The transaction must have taken a minute, but Naminé’s voice soon broke the radio silence. “Just save me a Peppermint Sweetheart body spray out of today’s shipment and we’ll call it even.”

That was the least Riku could do. There was a lull in the line now, but Peppermint Sweetheart was a limited edition fragrance for Valentine’s Day, and it was their hottest seller. It had a waiting list, and today’s shipment wouldn’t last the rest of his shift. He put a bottle aside for Naminé. 

Cart fully loaded, he braved the floor again, weaving through groups of customers to get to the front displays. His cart was about ten bottles lighter by the time he made it to his destination, and now that the after school rush was coming through, he couldn’t stock the shelf fast enough. 

The restock didn’t even last an hour. Shoppers wouldn’t be happy about that, but Riku took refuge in the storage racks, making room for the newly-arrived spring products that weren’t due out on the floor yet.

But even Riku’s sacred spot wasn’t safe. Someone cried out, so loud that the words rang crisp and clear all the way in the back of the stockroom.

“BUT IT'S THE LAST ONE!”

Riku sighed and put the box he was carrying down. Neither he nor his coworkers bought into gender stereotypes, but given his height, build, and general disposition (or so he’s been told), he could be pretty intimidating when he wanted to be. The need didn’t come up often—usually, he just threw scowls at would-be shoplifters, but occasionally, he liked to make his presence known, just in case things got ugly.

“Everything okay?” he asked, low, over the headset. 

“Yes,” came Aqua’s even reply. “He’s far back enough from the entrance that he’s not affecting conversion.”

Chuckling to himself at Aqua's priorities, Riku ventured out to the floor. The yell had sounded almost desperate, and he had to admit he was a little curious. 

The upset customer was sitting cross-legged on the floor, pouting. Brown hair jutted out from his head in multidirectional spikes, reminding Riku of an angry hedgehog in a ball. He was kind of cute, even if he was making a scene.

“I’m going to have to ask you to stand up,” Riku said as gently as he could manage.

“Can’t,” muttered the customer. “Too ashamed.” He was small (also like a hedgehog). When he stood up, would that top spike reach Riku’s shoulders? His nose?

His eyes were closed, or maybe he was just looking down, and something tugged at Riku’s stomach. He’d seen customers get irate, but he’d never seen anyone so dejected over a sold out product.

“She took the last bottle right out of my hand,” the customer sighed. His shoulders sagged a little more and a violent urge to steal the bottle back for him bubbled up in Riku. The customer didn’t notice. “Now what am I going to do?”

“We have other stuff.” The words sounded pathetic leaving Riku’s mouth, but the small customer looked up and confronted him with the most beautiful shade of blue—no, green that he had ever seen. 

“But this is her _favorite._ ”

_ Oh. _ It was like that. That should have stabbed Riku’s pounding heart, but it didn’t matter that this customer had a girlfriend, or a crush— _or maybe a sister or a mother_ , came a foolish thought. At that moment, it was within Riku’s power to make this customer happy, so really, he had no choice.  _ Sorry, Naminé. _

“C’mon. Get up,” Riku said, extending his hand. “I can help you out.”

The customer’s eyes snapped to Riku’s hand, gaze blazing a trail up his bare forearm to where his rolled up sleeve squeezed his elbow, up his shoulder to his neck, and coming to a screeching halt once more on Riku’s face. 

_ Turquoise_, Riku decided. 

The customer took his hand— _warm_ —but sprang to his feet without help, then let go to dust off his backside. 

Riku was relieved he didn’t have the option to stare at it. Still, knowing that top spike was just about level with the bridge of his nose flipped Riku’s stomach just the same.

“Can you really help me?”

_ Yes, _ thought Riku,  _ but I can’t help myself.  _ And like a fool, he nodded. “Come with me.”

The customer followed him to the back room, so eagerly that Riku had to put up a hand to physically stop him from going inside. His chest bumped right into Riku’s palm and the contact reverberated through Riku. 

“Wait here,” he said, glancing at the curious customer before ducking inside to grab the bottle of body spray he was supposed to be saving for Naminé.

All that mattered was making his customer smile, even if Riku never saw him again. 

He had never felt so passionate about customer service before in his life.

Bottle in hand, Riku grabbed the portable point of sale device they used when the registers were full. Logging in while he walked, he returned to his customer.

“How did you—” That pout dropped into a gape and those eyes filled with wonder.

Riku smiled, a real one this time. “She didn’t take the last one.”

Their hands brushed when the customer took the bottle, sending sparks up Riku’s spine. 

But that graze didn’t prepare him for the shock of finding himself enveloped in a tight hug. 

“You’re a lifesaver!” The customer squeezed tight and pressed his cheek to Riku’s chest—there was no hiding his pounding heartbeat now—but when he pulled away, Riku could have sworn his heart stuttered to a halt.

The full force of that smile was too much to bear. 

Riku flatlined until his customer tapped his name tag— _Clear!_ —and brought him back to life. 

“Thank you, Riku!” And he meant it, too. Never had a customer sounded so genuine, so emphatic. “And you smell really good!”

Riku almost choked. With all the scents battling for dominance in this store, there was no way Sora could smell him. His nose was just confused. Still, Riku’s foolish heart thundered in his chest.

“Cash or credit?” he gasped out. 

Those turquoise eyes rounded in concern. “Were you running? You didn’t have to hurry for me, Riku!”

If he kept saying Riku’s name like that, Riku would surely crash again. “It was nothing.” 

He didn’t want to rush his wonderful customer, but the way his hands shook as he held the the point of sale terminal must have looked like a signal.

“Oh, right! Credit!” And his customer fished around in his back pocket to produce a glaringly bright Donald Duck wallet.

Just when Riku thought he couldn’t get any more perfect. 

He pulled out a worn bank card and their fingers brushed again when Riku took it. Riku tried not to be obvious, but he needed a name, so he looked.

_ Sora. _

“Yeah?” 

Oh no, had Riku said that out loud? 

“Uh, that’ll be $12.51,” Riku said before running Sora’s card. “Do you want a bag?”

“No need!” Sora flashed another heart-stopping smile and Riku counted the seconds to twelve before Sora blinked, as if suddenly remembering to grab his purchase and receipt. “Thanks again, Riku. Kairi is going to  _ love _ this.”

Right.  _ Her favorite.  _ _Kairi_ was a name Riku neither wanted nor needed to know, but it didn’t matter. Today, Riku had made Sora smile, and that was all he cared about. 

“Hey, Riku. Just one more thing!” 

_ Anything,  _ thought Riku, though all he said was, “Hm?”

Sora glanced over his shoulder at the growing line next to them, brow crinkled in confusion. “Was I supposed to wait in that?”

As if on cue, another customer stepped up behind Sora. Riku narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. “I’m closed. Line’s over there.”

The customer balked and stormed off, but Sora burst into giggles and Riku didn’t care if Aqua had to discipline him. It was worth it.

“Thanks for everything, Riku,” Sora said once his laughs subsided. “I hope I see you again sometime!” 

All Riku could do was nod and wave as Sora bounded out of the store with the body spray and a piece of his heart.

“You gave him my body spray and you didn’t even get his number?” Naminé shook her head as they hung their aprons at the end of their shift. 

“It was for a girl,” Riku said. He didn’t add,  _ I just wanted to make him happy.  _ Not out loud.

When Riku arrived for his shift the next day, Aqua was waiting for him. “I have good news and bad news.”

Riku answered with a raised eyebrow, and she held up a customer report.

“Someone left a rave review about your excellent customer service on the corporate line. They said you went out of your way to help them find the perfect gift and that it was the best shopping experience they’d ever had in their life.” Then, she held up another slip. “But someone else complained that you gave another customer preferential treatment. I assume these reports are related?”

Riku’s silence was as good as an answer. He was still trying to wrap his head around the compliment. 

Aqua shook her head, but she was smiling, too. “No more making special checkout lines just for one person, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied. Aqua pinned the compliment to their board, then left to file the complaint or whatever she did with those. Riku didn’t care. No customer had ever called corporate for him before, and his chest warmed when he looked at the slip on the wall. 

It was proof that he had met Sora and that they had a connection, however small it was. 

But as the day wore on, the knowledge that Riku had made that much of an impression made him feel both better and worse. Sora wasn’t a regular customer—Riku worked whenever he wasn’t in class, and he had never seen Sora before. Riku would probably never see him again.

Having a crush on someone he had just met (someone most likely taken, no less), was pointless. Ridiculous. But as he refilled the soap display, Riku imagined Sora coming in again and to get more gifts for Kairi. Riku imagined becoming his friend. 

He could always use another friend.

“Hey, Riku!” 

That sunny voice that had danced through his dreams all night shook him out of his thoughts. “Sora?!”

It was almost like the heavens (or the ceiling panels, as it were) had opened up and brought Sora to him. 

Sora scratched the back of his neck and smiled, a little sheepish. “I really appreciate your help yesterday.”

“Yeah, thanks for calling the customer service line,” Riku replied.

Pink splashed Sora’s cheeks and Riku had to avert his eyes to the shelf.

“Oh, wow, you found out about that quick!” Sora let out a forced laugh. Was he nervous? “Anyway, I came back because your store has a lot of cool stuff and I think Kairi might appreciate another gift, you know?” 

_ Of course.  _ Riku couldn’t ask who Kairi was to him, so he just said, “Sure.”

“So, um,” Sora scratched his neck again, “what kind of stuff do girls usually buy here?” 

All Riku could do was blink. How was he supposed to know? He worked stock, and the only girl he had ever bought a present for was his mother (and she only ever wanted books). “Um, I can get a girl to help you…”

“No!” Sora’s eyes went wide and the hedgehog pout was back. “I mean, that’s fine, but I was hoping you would…” He let out a little growl and grabbed the two bottles of soap Riku was holding. “You know what? These look perfect. I’ll just take these.” 

“They’re buy two get one free.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Riku wanted to kick himself.

“Right!” Sora gestured toward the sign and grabbed another bottle. “Thanks! Sorry to bother you, I’ll be going now.”

Like lightning, he took off for the register, leaving a dumbfounded Riku behind. 

Why had he run off like that? Had Riku (and his little crush been found out)? Was Sora feeling sorry for him? Trying to spare his feelings? 

Riku hid in the stock room until he was sure Sora was gone.

But Sora came back the next day and bought a candle. Riku was off the day after that, but according to Naminé, Sora had been back but had left with sad eyes and no purchases. 

“He probably just couldn’t find anything he wanted,” Riku reasoned.

“I think you’re right.” Naminé didn’t elaborate, but from the long look she gave him, Riku got the distinct feeling he was being pitied. 

Riku’s next shift was on Valentine’s Day, and he was only a little surprised when Sora showed up. His heart still fluttered, but he’d have to get used to it if Sora was going to keep showering Kairi with gifts. Maybe one day he’d ask when Riku’s break was and they could get lunch together and get to know each other better. 

As friends. As it was, Riku knew more about Kairi than Sora.

“Kairi’s got nice hair,” said Sora, holding up a bottle of scented shampoo. “So she’ll probably like this, right?” 

Riku shrugged.

Okay, maybe he’d learned a lot about Sora this week, too. He was quick to touch and even quicker to smile. He was thoughtful and caring, and Riku wondered if Sora ever put himself first. Above all, he was persistent. 

With the exception of his little fit over the body spray, Sora was always upbeat, too, and he never seemed bothered by Riku’s lackluster responses. “Thanks for always taking the time out to help me, Riku.”

Sora’s words burned his heart and Riku’s reply stung his throat. “It's nothing. Happy Valentine’s Day.” 

“Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too, Riku.” 

That smile was going to haunt his dreams.

“Did you ask him out yet?” Naminé asked as they watched Sora jog out of the store. “He wouldn’t keep coming here every day for no reason.”

“He’s buying gifts for a girl,” Riku replied. A girl who was probably going to have a wonderful date tonight. “That’s a reason.”

“Yeah, well, if he has to buy her that many gifts, what does that say about the relationship?”

Maybe Naminé had a point, but Riku hadn’t been in enough relationships to know. Besides, Sora seemed like the type of guy to buy gifts “just because.” 

Whoever Kairi was to Sora, she was lucky to be in his life.

And, even in this tangential capacity, Riku was lucky to be in Sora’s life, too.

Even though Valentine’s Day had been busier, the store wasn’t dead on February 15th. For the third time his shift, Aqua's voice came over the headset. “Riku, could you please jump on register 5 and ring up a return?”

Riku mumbled an affirmative. It wasn’t the summons he was hoping for, but returns were easy. 

This customer was cute—petite with a warm, kind smile. Riku felt like he recognized her from somewhere, but it was probably just because she reminded him a little of Naminé. Or maybe it was the way she was smiling, almost like she knew him. 

After the standard retail greeting, Riku asked, “Did you have any issues with the items you’re returning?” 

She unloaded items one by one from a pink bag, and each time, Riku took in a breath without exhaling. One, two, three bottles of soap, a candle, shampoo…

“No issues,” she said. “You see, my friend means well, but I’m afraid he went a little overboard.”

_ Friend.  _ Riku felt lightheaded now, and he let out his breath in one puff. Beyond that, he didn’t react with more than an, “Oh?”

Kairi—it had to be her—tilted her head. “His heart’s always in the right place, but sometimes his aim is a little off.”

“I see.”

The words that came out of Riku’s mouth stood in stark, spartan contrast to the thoughts barreling through his head. There was no way Kairi knew who he was, but she had this knowing look on her face, and she was practically winking as she spoke. Surely Riku was reading too much into it. Sora wouldn’t have mentioned him to her; he was just a stockroom worker at a store where everything smelled funny. 

Kairi hid her mouth behind her hand and giggled. No wonder she and Sora were friends; they were both elven creatures or wood nymphs, too beautiful to be real.

But she didn’t get Riku’s heart pounding. And apparently, she didn’t get Sora’s heart going that way, either. 

_ Don’t get excited, _ he told himself as he finished the transaction.  _ Just because he’s not dating Kairi doesn’t mean he wants to— _

“I told him that next time, he should get a present for you if he wants to talk to you so badly.” And with a smile, she took her receipt and left.

He stood there, dumbfounded, until Naminé’s voice startled him out of it. “Aww,” she said, peering down at the returns. “She kept the Peppermint Sweetheart spray.”

But Riku didn’t really register her words. He was too busy smiling like a fool at the short, spiky figure at the entrance. 

Sora’s presence was a resonant melody in Riku’s head, so loud and lucid that even the repetitive overhead music faded to nothing as he made his way to the registers. 

If Sora’s presence was a song, his blush was vibrato, his incandescent grin a crescendo, and Riku’s heart chimed in harmony. He wondered if Sora could hear it.

And then there was only a counter between them.

“Hi,” said Sora. 

“Hi,” said Riku.

“I feel like I owe you an explanation.” Sora sounded sheepish, and he didn’t owe Riku anything, but Riku let him speak. “Kairi’s my best friend, and we’ve been getting each other Valentines since we had to ask our parents for money to do it. I knew she liked that spray stuff and I was so bummed when your store was sold out, but then you saved the day with the last bottle and I knew I had to see you again.”

Riku was too scared to breathe, afraid he might shatter this perfect moment. Sora kept going.

“So I kept buying stuff for Kairi, but I think I gave you the wrong idea, because what I really wanted was to talk to you.”

Riku couldn’t be dreaming because this was so much better, but like a dream, he couldn’t form words.

Sora could.

“You’re probably sick of all this stuff since you work here, but if there’s something you like…” Sora pulled out that Donald Duck wallet again and withdrew a gift card—Kairi’s store credit. “I kind of want to get you a present to make it up to you.”

“You don’t have to get me anything.” The words that shot out of Riku’s mouth. He was trying to be nice but Sora poured and Riku’s heart lurched. He reached past the register and grabbed a tube of unscented, colorless lip balm. “But I like this.”

Their fingers brushed—a strum, a chord—when Sora took it. He passed it back to Riku, blushing deeper, their hands lingering in a duet. Neither spoke during the transaction, but their hearts composed symphonies to the hum of the receipt printer. 

Once more, the lip balm went from Riku to Sora, then back to Riku again in a silly dance only they could parse. 

“Thank you, Sora.” Words flowed like lyrics from his tongue, easier now. And it didn’t count because he wasn’t collecting any data for the store, but for the first time since he started working at The Body Connection, he couldn’t wait to ask the question. “May I have your phone number?”

And in all Riku’s time there, no one had ever been so thrilled to answer him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone want to guess where I used to work? I had hoped to get this story out in time for Valentine's Day, but a day late isn't too bad considering the idea's been kicking around in my head for a year.
> 
> This is unbetaed and it's my first attempt at writing KH so I hope everyone felt true enough to character. Most of all, I hope this story made you smile. Thanks so much for reading!
> 
> That massage oil conversation is based on real life customer interactions, btw. >.<


End file.
